It appears that the "preview center" is more of an Imagineering behind-the-scenes look based on a couple of DCA enhancements that have already been released and covered here and elsewhere.

So, basically the focus is directed at how WDI comes up with ideas instead of presenting anything significantly new.

You caught that too, huh?

For those who don't know, "blue sky" is a term WDI uses for its first draft brainstorming sessions. The "blue sky" version of the project is what they would build if money was no object and the "blue sky" was the limit.

This name change was a very deliberate move, and you know what it reminds me of? The Light Magic "preview party" that suddenly became a "dress rehearsal" at the last minute. This is the same principle. What we're looking at is the next DCA backpedal. Instead of presenting the great ideas they're going to do, now we get to see all the things they might do. It's a hedge against future budget cuts.

I'm very curious as to what will be in the preview center as well. From the people I've talked to, they tell me that Mickey's Fun Wheel and the mermaid ride are so far along that they're going to happen--and sooner rather than later. But beyond this, the economy is in such bad shape, the company execs are now having jitters on one billion dollars in improvements, especially if attendance and hotel occupancy rates are forecasted to remain low.

I think it may be just a slight case of overkill to extrapolate from such an innocent name change that Pressler's "management style lives on." (Although I do think that some parts of it have unfortunately persisted.)

Everything Disney has said thus far has indicated that the preview center will be about the attractions and areas they're adding, not about the ideas that came up in the blue sky sessions. Heck, if we're gonna take the name that literally, we're going to be seeing a lot of completely unfamiliar ideas, since the whole point of the blue sky phase is to get all the ideas out, good and bad. With such a cynical view of the company, do you really think they'd want to invest so much time and money in divulging that many valuable, not-yet-used ideas?

Let's wait it out, at least till they give us more information. Referring to the preview center as the WDI Blue Sky Cellar does NOT necessarily indicate a substantial drop in quality of the upcoming attractions.

I agree with Data. I do think the name was chosen partially to indicate that everything shown will not be built exactly as it is shown in the images that are shown, it was also a choice to use an Imagineering term that is well known and catchy that sounds interesting. But to intpret Blue Sky to be primarily about "no budget limitations" is a gross misrepresentation. In fact it's totally possible for an idea developed in Blue Sky to become more expensive as it goes through the design process.

This does not indicate that they are planning on cutting budgets. From what people who know are saying, the Cellar will show more of the design process, so it will show some Blue Sky ideas for these attractions, and then show the design process of how they got to the final designs.

The Mickey audience is not made up of people; it has no racial, national, political, religious or social differences or affiliations; the Mickey audience is made up of parts of people, of that deathless, precious, ageless, absolutely primitive remnant of something in every world-wracked human being which makes us play with children’s toys and laugh without self-consciousness at silly things, and sing in bathtubs, and dream and believe that our babies are uniquely beautiful. You know…the Mickey in us.
-Walt Disney

I think that's part of why they liked the name, it sounds kind of like an oxymoron at first glance, it's kind of funny.

The Mickey audience is not made up of people; it has no racial, national, political, religious or social differences or affiliations; the Mickey audience is made up of parts of people, of that deathless, precious, ageless, absolutely primitive remnant of something in every world-wracked human being which makes us play with children’s toys and laugh without self-consciousness at silly things, and sing in bathtubs, and dream and believe that our babies are uniquely beautiful. You know…the Mickey in us.
-Walt Disney

I think it may be just a slight case of overkill to extrapolate from such an innocent name change that Pressler's "management style lives on." (Although I do think that some parts of it have unfortunately persisted.)

Everything Disney has said thus far has indicated that the preview center will be about the attractions and areas they're adding, not about the ideas that came up in the blue sky sessions. Heck, if we're gonna take the name that literally, we're going to be seeing a lot of completely unfamiliar ideas, since the whole point of the blue sky phase is to get all the ideas out, good and bad. With such a cynical view of the company, do you really think they'd want to invest so much time and money in divulging that many valuable, not-yet-used ideas?

Let's wait it out, at least till they give us more information. Referring to the preview center as the WDI Blue Sky Cellar does NOT necessarily indicate a substantial drop in quality of the upcoming attractions.

Well, if they are just going to reprise previous released concepts, why bother with a "preview center"? What they are providing is pretty much what they used to have in the Disneyland Gallery. Various presentations of ideas, past and present. That was never really considered a preview center.

They could just as well provide a URL to an online Blue Sky site. I don't see any real value to what they are setting up at DCA if it isn't a REAL preview center like they used to have at Disneyland decades ago, when they actually showcased concepts that had never been seen before.

Well, if they are just going to reprise previous released concepts, why bother with a "preview center"? What they are providing is pretty much what they used to have in the Disneyland Gallery. Various presentations of ideas, past and present. That was never really considered a preview center.

They could just as well provide a URL to an online Blue Sky site. I don't see any real value to what they are setting up at DCA if it isn't a REAL preview center like they used to have at Disneyland decades ago, when they actually showcased concepts that had never been seen before.

Not necessarily defending the Cellar...in all likelihood, I'll never even visit it. I'm just saying that it might be a tad much to decide that all the additions are going to be done on the cheap simply because of the name they've decided on.

From what I understand it still is a preview center, it will just feature not only previews of the actual projects coming to DCA, but also ideas that were proposed early on that may not be exactly how the final version will come out. Personally, I'd rather get the chance to see a lot of drawings, and some of the design process then just a preview of the final versions of the attractions.

The Mickey audience is not made up of people; it has no racial, national, political, religious or social differences or affiliations; the Mickey audience is made up of parts of people, of that deathless, precious, ageless, absolutely primitive remnant of something in every world-wracked human being which makes us play with children’s toys and laugh without self-consciousness at silly things, and sing in bathtubs, and dream and believe that our babies are uniquely beautiful. You know…the Mickey in us.
-Walt Disney